1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a booklet with an integral detachable business reply envelope at its central fold made from a continuous, pre-printed web and methods for its manufacture which are especially suited for use with computerized operations such as those involving computer personalized web lithographic printed forms. In particular, the invention relates to a booklet containing a plurality of pages with an integral detachable business reply envelope and response device which remains an integral structure throughout all operations up to and including the final folding and finishing steps.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, computer directed printers have been utilized in connection with the personalization of large volume mailings relating to advertising or solicitation campaigns. In particular, the information in the computer's data input system, which contains the normal addressee mailing information for printing the envelope, has also been used in various forms to personalize the pre-printed advertising materials being transmitted. In its simplest and most common form, this personalization can constitute the inclusion of the addressee's name and a salutation line in what otherwise would be recognized as a form letter. The intended effect of such personalized advertising messages is, of course, to capture and maintain the attention of the addressee for the purpose of having him read all the information transmitted. These personalization techniques have resulted in increased returns to the advertiser, thereby enhancing the value of the article as a selling and solicitation medium.
In addition, the computer directed print-out devices have been used in conjunction with continuous high speed web lithographic printing equipment to produce advertising materials that include not only personalized salutations, but also the repetition of the addressee's name and other related personal information in various locations throughout the advertising material. Until recently, formats for such personalized mass produced mail advertising materials have been limited by economic considerations to letters or simple brochures.
One example of a personalized brochure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,907,271 in which a computer personalized step-down booklet is produced from a continuous, pre-printed web that is capable of being assembled and finished in a continuous operation. The pre-printed, personalized web is divided into discrete sheets by perforations along transverse longitudinal lines perpendicular to the backbone of the booklet that correspond to the lines between the head and foot of adjacent sheets. The sheets are then die-cut along their marginal edges parallel to the longitudinal edges of the web and the booklet backbone between the perforated lines, and the resulting marginal strip portions are "burst" or removed from the external edges of the sheets comprising the web. The booklet is then formed by folding the sheets in an appropriate manner along the perforation lines into an overlying and superposed configuration in which the pages constituting the finished booklet are in proper numeric sequence. Thus, the art was advanced sufficiently to allow personalization on several pages in a booklet without the attendant risk of mismatching of the personalized pages during final assembly. However, prior to the development of the subject invention, methods of producing booklets having a plurality of personalized pages in which an integral detachable pre-printed business reply envelope, and optionally, a personalized reply device or form, were not known. Heretofore, such reply devices have been, for example, loosely inserted between the pages of the finished booklet following assembly. If these loosely inserted reply devices are separated from the booklet, the incidence of favorable responses will be reduced.
Accordingly detachable, it is an object of the present invention to provide a booklet having a one or more personalized pages and an integral, easily detachable business reply envelope and response device, and a method for producing such a booklet in a single operation from a single continuous web, thereby avoiding the risk of mismatching of the personalized booklet with a personalized response device and reply envelope.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for producing a booklet having an integral business reply envelope and response device which obviates the necessity of manually handling sheets which comprise the pages of the booklets during the final stages of booklet assembly.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing a booklet from a web having an integral business reply envelope and response device in which the booklet, business reply envelope, and response device are finished in a single operation.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a method of assembling a booklet having a plurality of personalized pages and a business reply envelope, a response device optionally being provided, in which the method avoids any possibility of mismatching of personalized pages.
A particular object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing a personalized booklet, business reply envelope, and response device that is readily adapted for use with computer directed printers in conjunction with continuous high speed web lithographic printing equipment.